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HELLO! MAGAZINE

1 OCTOBER 2003
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia played host to King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan on Tuesday, when the Jordanian royals made a visit to the Spanish capital.

The couple had an informal lunch at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, before getting back on their jet and heading on to France. In Paris, King Abdullah met with President Jacques Chirac to discuss the Middle East peace process and the future of Iraq. Their meeting comes after it was announced that Jordan will train a new police force for the war-torn country.

Rania has also been continuing her tireless campaigning for women's rights. Earlier in the week she chaired the Second Arab Women's Summit and called on media leaders to help advance the status of women in the Arab world. Media bosses from across the Middle East attended the conference and agreed to help change editorial stereotypes in their publications.

During the couple's Paris visit, the Queen also responded unequivocally to a question posed to her about "honour killings", in which women are slain for "dishonouring" their families. "It is a form of murder which is contrary to Islam," she said. "We should have no tolerance for the acceptance of honour killings. There is certainly no justification for such a practise in Islam."